


A Sweet Goodnight

by TessaWeston



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Awkward Crush, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26436703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TessaWeston/pseuds/TessaWeston
Summary: One sleepless night for Inquisitor Solaria Trevelyan leads her to the war room to get work done. However, it would seem that Commander Cullen Rutherford is stuck in a similar predicament, the two finding themselves alone together.
Relationships: Cullen Rutherford/Female Trevelyan, Female Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford
Kudos: 10





	A Sweet Goodnight

Sleep was for the weak. Who even needed it, right? That’s what Simon used to say, at least. Unless it was Fawkes, Solaria considered, who used to tell her that while Simon often told her it was important to get a good night’s sleep to feel well rested and blah blah blah?

'Oh well,' she thought. 'It isn’t like I have to go on a quest or anything in the morning. For once. Besides, this could be a good time to get some work done.'

Sitting up in her bed, Inquisitor Solaria Trevelyan stared out of the glass doors of her room, overlooking the Frostback Mountain peaks and thought quietly to herself. The night was still and starless, a genuine promise that she could be uninterrupted if she made her way around Skyhold.

Never one for doing work in her own room and at her own desk, she decided that she could simply head down to the war room, her favorite base of operations to get some work done. After all, no matter how many letters she signed and reports she read from her advisors, it seemed she was always behind, especially with going on so many quests across Fereldan and Orlais. 

All she knew for certain was that she would not be traveling into the Deep Roads again any time soon. Or to a supposedly abandoned bandit camp alone at the base of the mountain. The scar in her abdomen still held a deep ach from that stupid mistake she made months ago.

Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she pulled on an old, worn pair of warm boots given to her from an Avaar ally, meaning to keep her toes warm on the cold stone floor of the castle. Next, she slid on the robe Vivienne gifted her with a comfortable fur collar to help keep her warm, not much feeling like venturing around the grounds in only her nightgown.

Reaching for her desk, she grabbed a handful of papers that she had actually been reviewing for once in her room and then made her way down to the first level of Skyhold, moving quietly past Fawkes’ door to avoid waking her sister. She passed a handful of guards along the way, but none stopped to speak with her, most likely too tired to do much of anything other than give her a small nod of acknowledgement, not that she minded. Had there been more, perhaps they would have stopped her, but it felt like a ghost town currently. Not that she was complaining.

Once she made it to the door of Josephine’s office, she was happy to find that the ambassador was better than she herself and valued sleep enough to longer be present, meaning Solaria could make her way into the war room without a single bother. Entering into the large room always brought her a sense of peace, especially at this time of night. It was a pleasant moment for she could not see the sky, meaning the Breach was nothing more than a faded color far off in the distance, easy enough to forget about.

She often wondered how things would be if roles had been reversed between herself and Fawkes, that she had been pulled into the Fade and made the Herald of Andraste while her sister would be Inquisitor. But thinking of what-ifs would get no one nowhere. Instead, she found herself worrying about Fawkes, anxious that the mark was still itching and burning under her skin. Could she have been hiding how she really felt just to keep Solaria from worrying?

“Trust Fawkes,” she whispered to herself under her breath, grabbing the chair she used whenever doing work and taking a seat to go over her papers. The advisors all knew how the young inquisitor preferred to work and would often keep a small chest under the table for her where they would deposit any papers she would need to review and handle, so luckily, her work was never too far away.

Some time passed, but how long it truly was beside the candlelight and in the dead of night was hard to say. As Solaria sat forward with an elbow on the table and her cheek resting on her fist, skimming the same paragraph in one of Leliana’s reports for a fourth time, she heard the door opening. Looking up, she was surprised to see none other than the Commander Cullen.

'By the Maker . . . Why is he here,' she thought to herself, thankful for the limited light. He hopefully wouldn’t be able to see the rising blush in her cheeks that she could feel heating up. Admittedly, she had been doing better around him ever since he found Fawkes after Haven was destroyed, but she was often still a blubbering mess around him, especially if they were alone together. She suddenly became acutely aware that one of the last times they happened to be in the same room, alone, was also when she accidentally saw the man shirtless. She still was not over it and felt terrible for invading his privacy, even though he opened the door for her in that circumstance. 

“Oh, hello, Inquisitor,” Cullen managed to smile, clearly having not been expecting to find anyone else in the war room.

“Hello, Cullen.” Was he only stopping in to get something? Why was he still up, anyway? “I know I’ve heard the others say you’re quite the workaholic, but I didn’t expect to see you up at this hour.” At the very least, she managed a smile, sitting up and setting the report down so that she could give him her attention.

As she stared at him, she realized he wasn’t in the usual armor he wore during the day--why would he be?--and instead wore a simple shirt and pair of trousers, though he of course still had his vest on. Thinking back to the night Fawkes awoke from originally handling the Breach, she recalled Cullen loaning her his vest to try and keep her warm in some way and could not help but to smile now, remembering how the fur tickled her ears and neck..

For just a moment, she thought she caught a smile playing at the corners of Cullen’s lips. Had he noticed hers? “You know, Solas and Varric say the same about you.”

“What, that I’m a workaholic?”

“Yes and I think you’ve proven their points by being in here currently, Inquisitor.” Oh, there was definitely a grin on his face now, that much painfully obvious. 

Unable to help herself, she looked up at him with an unimpressed expression that was clearly trying to hide any semblance of laughter, which she was obviously failing at when she heard a chuckle escape him. Her heart felt like it was skipping beats now, causing her to avert her gaze once more.

'Think of something to say and quickly before he thinks he’s offended you,' she scolded herself, not wanting him to leave or feel awkward. “Surely you’re in here to do some work of your own, I take it? Or are you just picking some stuff up?”

Luckily, the soft smile did not leave his face, meaning that she was still in the clear for the time being. “I had come here with the intention of just picking up some reports that I’m sure you already filled out, but looking at you”--'Oh by the Maker, what is he about to say?'--”I remembered the first time we met.”

Well, that was not as terrible as she was expecting, but admittedly, she was hoping for a declaration of affection or something along those lines. “When Simon introduced us before the Conclave, you mean?”

A laugh actually passed through him then and Solaria thought for just a moment that she might have even heard a snort? Her heart jumped at that cute possibility. “I recall your brother always speaking so highly of you whenever we would speak during our time in Kirkwall. I also remember the moment you met me, you stood up so straight and saluted so perfectly, you put Templars and Orlesian Royal Guards to shame.”

“I was rather nervous to meet the former Knight-Captain,” she explained with a grin, shrugging her shoulders. “Can you blame me? My title was by birth, yours was earned.”

Perhaps it had been the wrong thing to say, for she saw how his face changed then and wondered if it would have been better to have just kept her mouth shut. However, after a moment, a strange smirk appeared on his face as he held up a finger.

“Forgive me, my lady Inquisitor, but I just remembered something,” he explained. Do you trust me enough to stay here until I return?”

Was he trying to be funny? Strange, she thought of him as always being more of the serious type, but this was a welcome unexpectancy. “Listen, Cullen, I’ll stay for at least another ten minutes. Any longer than that and I can’t make any promises that I won’t have disappeared somewhere around the grounds.”

“Don’t you worry. I only need a fraction of that time.”

Without another word, Cullen disappeared from the war room, leaving Solaria alone once more. Was this what it was like to have a normal enough conversation with the man she had been eyeing for months--years, if you count the one time she almost met him at a Trevelyan ball in Ostwick but was too nervous to ever even approach him--now? If she even so much as told Fawkes about this, she would probably say some sort of I told you so.

Only a couple of minutes passed when she heard the door opening, once again setting down the report she had been reviewing. Cullen entered, though conveniently had a hand hidden behind his back. What was he hiding?

“I know this may seem sudden, but . . .” Trailing off, he produced a small sweetcake on a plate, walking to the other side of the war table to sit down beside her.

An ecstatic smile quickly spread across her face, her love of sweetcakes well known amongst her friends. “Did Fawkes tell you that the easiest way to cheer me up is with one of those?”

Cullen stopped for a moment, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Confused, she merely kept quiet, wanting to give him whatever time he needed. What time would that have been? She had no idea, but she did not want to be rude, after all.

“Actually, Simon told me how much you loved them.”

Now she stopped, immediately thinking back to her eldest brother. Solaria had been the youngest of ten children, having eight older brothers and one adopted sister who was only a few months older than her. Out of them all, she had only ever been close with Simon, one other brother, and of course Fawkes herself. However, Fawkes ran away from home to join a Dalish clan when the girls were both twelve, leaving Solaria to face the expectations of being the perfect young lady her parents always wanted her to be, no longer able to run away from those expectations and responsibilities with her sister.

For four years, after angering the Bann and his wife in such a way, Solaria was locked in the manor, unable to ever leave and only being able to go outside if it had been in the center courtyard that was surrounded by the entire estate. Despite being a Templar, due to his name, Simon was permitted to return to the family home in Ostwick every-so-often when he was stationed in Kirkwall under Knight-Commander Merideth. Whenever he would return, he would teach Solaria how to fight and properly use a sword and shield, training being one of her only respites from the agonizing monotony that was her life. When it came time for the Conclave, it was he who convinced his parents to allow her to finally leave the home again, insisting that it would look good considering how many Trevelyans were going to be present, between their rankings in both the Templar Order and the Chantry. 

Before the explosion occurred, she had been standing beside him, keeping guard and being muscle to ensure no one disturbed the peace talks. What good did it do? She recalled awakening beneath a giant boulder of rubble, somehow managing to survive in a small pocket it had created and only walking away with a nasty headache, two wounds that scarred on her face, and a broken nose. She had managed to climb out and to safety, but fainted once more.  
When she finally awoke once more all those months ago in Haven, it was Cullen Rutherford she saw first, he being there to tell her that she was the only survivor of the blast (this was before anyone had known that a Dalish elf was pulled into the Fade at the same time, turning out to be another survivor herself). After only just meeting, it seemed he already saw so much more of her than anyone else had. He stayed with her and sat with her when she cried at the realization that her brother died, that thousands had and somehow, she was the only survivor that was always physically there at the temple.

Despite the memories of Simon seeming to slow down time for Solaria, only a small moment had passed as Cullen continued to speak. “Simon told me that he planned on getting you one of these after the Conclave had finished as a sort of reward, I suppose. He mentioned that you loved sweetcakes and he even told me of a few instances when you were feeling down that he would bring them to you to cheer you up. Since his passing, I’ve thought about him telling me that from time-to-time and just now, when I entered and saw you, it hit me that this would be the perfect time to get you that sweetcake he silently promised to you.”

As he set the dessert down onto the war table and handed her the spoon, she became all too aware of how close he was. They both sat awkwardly in their chairs, half facing one another as opposed to sitting and facing straight forward, meaning she could feel the heat radiating off of him. Was that real or was she just imagining things? It was hard to say.   
“I admit,” he began again, causing her to realize she still did not say anything, “I haven’t had one of these since I was a child, before the Order recruited me. I don’t much remember the taste, but it certainly smells good. I think I can see why you enjoy them so much.”

Solaria was touched, to say the least. He had shown her a kindness she was not expecting and her heart swelled. What she kept telling herself over the months was that what she thought was just a passing crush on the Commander was in fact love for him. Could she say so surely that she loved him? Before tonight, perhaps not, but now as she looked into his ember eyes and realized he had done something truly special for her, she knew.

“Cullen, I . . . Thank you, of course, but I was wondering if you’d like to share it with me?” By the Maker, why did she have to be so bad at talking to him? She felt like she did not even know what to properly say in this instance. “I mean, I believe these are one of the greatest things to have ever been created, so you would truly be missing out,”

He snickered, that smile she loved returning to his face. “Really? One of the best things created? What else is on that list?”

“Puppies, of course. What kind of question is that? Look, are you going to share it with me or not?”

“I’d be happy to,Solaria ” he obliged, taking a bite after her. Clearly it unlocked some sort of core memory deep within the man because without realizing, he quickly took another spoonful.

The two of them stayed like that for a long time. At first, they both sat and just quietly ate together, hardly any words spoken between them as they merely understood the importance of sharing good food. However, after some time, they did begin to talk about all sorts of things, the awkwardness both felt having completely melted away. Their conversations varied a great deal, ranging from Cullen’s torture and his current attempt to be fully rid of lyrium, to Templar fighting techniques, to Solaria’s time being locked up in the manor, to wondering why so many Orlesian masks were as terrifying as they were. 

“May I ask you something personal?” Cullen asked as Solaria was eating the last bite of sweetcake, the spoon still in her mouth. She simply nodded and he continued to speak. “I remember when Bann and Lady Trevelyan came a few weeks ago and you said you finally got it out of your mother that your title as a Trevelyan is illegitimate. How did you figure that out, exactly?”

She inhaled deeply, releasing her breath into a whistle before speaking. “Well, as you can tell, I’m rather short. From quite literally my birth, my mother told Bann Trevelyan that I was so small because I was a 'sickly' child, but I never once felt anything other than normal. Over the years, I had a lot of time to think and I just felt it was too convenient of an explanation, especially considering I look nothing like the rest of my family. So, when my mother was here, I decided to tell her I knew she was lying, even though I had no actual proof.”

Cullen looked impressed. “You bluffed her?”

“I did! She told me who my real father was, as you may recall.”

“I do. A Dwarf in the Merchant’s Guild, isn’t that right?”

She nodded, putting the last of her reports away and slowly rising. They had been talking for what felt like hours now and she was finally tired. “That’s right. Varric’s been trying to help me find him so I can hopefully learn more about my real family.”

“Do you expect anything from them?” He stood up beside her, helping her to put anything else away before they slowly made their way to the door together.

“To be honest, no, not really. But if I could find out anything that would be important to know, like a disease, I want to.”

Both continued on through Josephine’s office and eventually to the front door of the central hub of the castle. Hours really must have passed for when they opened the doors, they were greeted with a sight of at least two feet of snow, meaning it would be nearly impossible for Cullen to get back to his office and thus, his room.

“We could try the path that goes through the library and just be quiet so we don’t wake Solas?” Solaria suggested, worried that Cullen would have to sleep in her throne. Only, when the two of them got to the library to try and use the path mentioned, they found that not only was the snow just as bad, but the wind would threaten to throw even a stone golem off and to the ground below.

“Well, I suppose I’ll go out the main entrance,” he sighed, looking down at his boots and thinking something to himself. She couldn’t tell what just by looking at him.

Something took her over then, something that possessed her to no longer be shy or worry about him accidentally taking things out of context. “My bed is rather large. Large enough for two people to both sleep without getting in the other’s way, I’d wager. You could spend the night with me so you don’t have to trudge through all of that snow. Besides, it isn’t safe the higher you go.”

He stopped to look at her, considering her request. Instead of beating around the bush or immediately denying her offer, however, he merely asked, “You don’t mind?”

“I don’t mind.”

Together, the two of them made their way up to Solaria’s room, it being cold from her having kept one of the doors cracked open the entire time. Having noticed this, Cullen asked, “Why did you keep your door open?”

Immediately, she felt a bit embarrassed but she knew she could not skirt around the question. “You see, from the time Bann Trevelyan kept me locked in the manor, I hate not being able to feel the air. I get claustrophobic if I don’t have access to the outside at pretty much all times, so I keep the door ajar on especially cold nights like this so I can still have that touch of the outside. Sometimes I consider just going out and sleeping in my tent with the recruits.”

Something strange passed behind Cullen’s eyes then and a comforting expression formed on his chiseled face. In the stillness of the room, he simply reached down and took her hand, holding it as though it would shatter should he hold it any tighter. No words had to be said as they both realized that they understood one another. Though their experiences had of course been completely different and felt in their own personal ways, they realized that they were both able to understand one another.

Making their ways over the large bed, they both kept their unspoken promises of keeping to their sides while they were awake. However, as time passed and both slept, Solaria and Cullen sought one another out without either realizing, holding one another close for the rest of the night and both managing to sleep soundly without many nightmares.


End file.
